


Give Me A Sign

by celegans, dusuessekartoffel, gedankenspaziergang



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Everyone can write, F/F, Fake Fake Dating, Friends to Lovers, Love is Blind AU, M/M, Pining, it has pockets :)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29271048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celegans/pseuds/celegans, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dusuessekartoffel/pseuds/dusuessekartoffel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gedankenspaziergang/pseuds/gedankenspaziergang
Summary: David, Leonie and Matteo all don’t really want to be participating in the new season of Love is Blind but somehow, they’ve managed to end up here and need to pretend to be looking for true love. Will they still be pretending in the end?Or; The Love Is Blind AU you didn't need but got anyway.
Relationships: Matteo Florenzi/David Schreibner, Sara Adamczyk/Leonie Richter
Comments: 29
Kudos: 33





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Signville <3
> 
> And remember: Everyone Can Write!

**Prologue**

**Matteo**

Matteo isn’t sure how he let things escalate like this. It was a stupid joke. A stupid idea Jonas had when they were getting drunk one evening and Hanna commented on how long Matteo had been single now. Matteo isn’t sure why he let him.

There was a moment, when Jonas made the Tinder account, where Matteo thought about telling him. Just telling him, finally, right there and then. But he couldn’t get the words out, not after all this time where he’d stayed silent. And besides, he was sure nothing would come off it anyway. It was a stupid Tinder account he was never seriously going to use and if it made Jonas and Hanna happy, so be it. 

But now something _has_ come off it. Matteo can’t stop staring at the message.

“Hi, this is Max, one of the producers of the popular Netflix show _Love is Blind_. We’re still looking for participants for our next season and you would be the perfect candidate! If you are interested, message me back and we can arrange a meeting to discuss this further.” 

It’s ridiculous. This does not happen in real life, Matteo is sure of it. At first, he was so sure that it was a prank that he’d ignored the message but Jonas convinced him that it was legit and that answering it wouldn’t hurt. 

Matteo isn’t sure why he’s doing this, either. Maybe because it will finally shut Jonas and his mother up or maybe because he was promised free snacks or maybe because it means a free holiday if nothing else. Or maybe because he truly doesn’t care anymore. Either way, he finds himself answering the message and saying that he’s interested in participating (“Liar, liar, liar,” his inner voice chants but he’s gotten good at ignoring it when he wants to) and before he knows it, he’s in actual talks with actual producer Max on being part of the show. Max is so nice he feels almost bad about saying yes to a show he knows he won’t contribute anything useful to but he also takes so long with answering that Matteo ends up not feeling that bad after all. He still doesn’t know why he’s actually doing this but somehow, he doesn’t stop. 

**Leonie**

Leonie opens her DMs on Instagram out of habit. She knows she should concentrate on her next workout plan, she planned on making a new series, stretching for the splits, but mindlessly scrolling through social media is easier and a good way to procrastinate. Answering some messages is the next best thing, write some thank yous, feel productive without really doing anything. Among some questions about her yoga attire and praise for her latest video she finds a curious message.

It’s written by a Max F., who claims to be the producer of a reality TV show. The message says that the show is about finding true love, and that he’s looking for participants that are open and outgoing and most of all truly want to find love and a long-term partner. It all looks pretty shady, any weirdo could claim they’re some kind of big boss from Netflix, and _if_ it is real, she doesn’t want to look like a clown in front of millions of viewers. 

Also, there is that tiny problem called being a lesbian and if she understands the concept correctly, that show sounds really heterosexual. Not many people know that she’s gay. She’s not shy about it, but also not as open as she would like to be. She can see how a random producer or even her followers wouldn’t know it. She’s not even sure that Sara really got it when Leonie hinted at it. Even though they’ve been best friends since the first day of school and usually talk about everything. They made it through school troubles and Abi together, she helped Sara deal with her dad losing his job and back then, when Leonie still thought she was into guys, they discussed boyfriend troubles all the time as well. So yeah, they talk about boys, but now she also tells Sara when she thinks a girl is cute and sometimes, when Sara wholeheartedly agrees, Leonie even has a suspicion that Sara might be into girls as well because there’s no way Sara can talk about a girl like _this_ and be completely straight. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on her side. In any case, she never outright said the word “lesbian” to Sara, and it doesn’t help that she’s had boyfriends before. And with Sara (and the whole world, honestly) being so focused on heterosexual love, Sara seems to forget it sometimes. 

So when they meet for coffee and Sara tells her about that show, Leonie is only surprised that Sara had gotten a similar message and that it is actually real and not a random creep but not at all surprised that she would love the idea of participating immediately. Of course Sara would be excited about this. She loves love, always has a crush on some boy and enjoys reading cheesy romance books. Leonie gets it, of course it’s nice to have someone you can always confide in, share your life with and talk to about problems. But Sara is so infatuated with the idea of love that she sometimes forgets that her boyfriends should also treat her well and with respect. No ex of her had been really bad but she wishes Sara would realize that she’s her own person and not only whole when she is in a relationship with her ‘other half’.

But Sara is hooked on the idea of participating in the show immediately and after Leonie lets it slip that they’d asked her as well, there isn’t anything she can do. Leonie would do (almost) anything for her so when she asks if they would join together what else could she say than yes? While Sara is excited, she is also scared that she won’t get along with the other girls and wouldn’t it just be great if they would go together and maybe both find the love of their lives there?

At least Leonie can watch out for Sara if she’s there as well and talk her out of deciding on some asshole who wouldn’t treat her right. Even if she has to pretend to be into men, if it means she can keep an eye on Sara and protect her, of course she’ll do it. 

**David**

David can't believe he let himself get roped into this. It had all started with an ominous message from Leonie asking him to meet her at a café on the weekend, when that was something they rarely did. She was one of his best friends in university, having survived the most horrendous classes and craziest campus parties together. Yet, their friendship had never really developed into something that existed outside the context of school. When it came to the other's private life, they were more than content with hearing about it during lunch or boring lectures instead of being an active part of it.

So when Leonie asks him to hang out on a weekend without the pretense of studying or planning a project for uni, David can't shake the feeling that there’s something weird about it. Then, when he comes half an hour late to their meeting and Leonie doesn't so much as give him a nasty look, he knows that something is off.

“So, what is this about, Leonie? You're kind of freaking me out,” David asks after a few minutes of pleasant but unnerving small talk.

Leonie takes a deep breath. “Okay, then let's just get to it,” she says and David can feel his anxiety spike.

“I need to tell you something and then I have something to ask you,” Leonie continues.

“Okay …?” This doesn't do anything to calm David's sudden nerves.

“Sara was asked to participate in some dating show for Netflix and she said yes.”

“Uh … cool?” David doesn't really know what to say. “Wait, Sara as in your best friend Sara?” The one you're deeply in love with, he adds mentally.

“Yes.”

“So how do you feel about this?”

“I think it's stupid,” Leonie says. “But she convinced me to participate in the show, too.”

“Wait, you? Is this … do you get to date someone besides men? I mean, these kinda shows are usually pretty straight-centric, aren't they?” David is confused why Leonie would take part in _any_ dating show, let alone one where she would have to date a guy.

“They are and so is this one, but I'm not taking part in this to find love or anything. I'm just going to be there to keep an eye on Sara and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid,” Leonie explains.

“Oh.” Okay, this makes a bit more sense to David. As far as he can tell, Leonie has always been very protective of Sara, suffering along with each of her bad relationships. But he still feels like this might go a bit far.

“Wait, what show is this anyway?”

Leonie shifts in her seat like what she is about to say is making her uncomfortable but her face remains neutral.

“Love is Blind.”

“ _Love is Blind?_ ” David repeats, incredulous. “That show where you talk to people through a wall for a few days and then get _engaged_ to someone without ever seeing them? And then at the end of the show you’re supposed to _marry_?”

“Yup, that’s the one,” she says in a little sing-song voice with a forced, fake smile.

David can’t believe this. He can’t believe Leonie would take part in something like this, no matter what her actual reasons are. He can’t believe that _anyone_ would sign up for a show like this, really. Deciding to marry someone after only knowing them for a few days, without having ever actually seen them, sounds like David’s worst nightmare and a recipe for disaster and long-lasting misery for everyone involved. David isn’t exactly an expert on love, seeing how all his relationships so far have ended before they could really go anywhere serious, but he is pretty sure that that isn’t how it works. No matter how infatuated you may be in the beginning, sooner or later reality is going to catch up with you and make you realize that you made a huge mistake. 

“Leonie, this is crazy. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I know, but –” she starts but David cuts her off.

“How is that even going to work? Are you going to pretend to fall in love with some poor dude? Get engaged? And then what?”

Leonie gives him a tight and also slightly threatening smile. “Well, this is where you come in.”

“ _Me_?”

“Yes. You see, I was going to ask you to come on the show as well and pretend to fall in love with me. I need a guy I can trust on the inside, so I can make sure that I won't be eliminated from the show before Sara is. And you're like the only guy friend I have that I trust enough and that Sara has never met.”

It takes David a few moments to process all of this. “No way. You can't be serious,” he says eventually.

But Leonie is serious. Very serious, in fact. She spends the next twenty minutes laying out exactly why it would also be a good thing for David (free money and a free trip to a sunny beach resort) and that it wouldn't be a big deal anyway (“Sara is probably not going to get very far in the show anyway and then we can drop out as well and if we're boring enough, we might not even make it into the final cut of the show.”) and David doesn’t know if her arguments eventually make sense to him somehow or if he just feels bad for her, because he can tell that she is pretty desperate, but in the end he agrees to at least try to get on the show. 

Leonie gives him the email address of one of the people responsible for the casting and tells him to just send them an email telling them about himself and how much he wants to be a part of this show, with his Instagram attached (“Not the art one!”).

When he doesn't hear anything back for two weeks after doing that, David assumes that he hasn't gotten in and is relieved that he doesn't actually have to go through with this and it isn't his fault, so Leonie can't be mad at or disappointed in him.

But then one morning he finds an email in his mailbox that makes all the dread he had felt regarding this situation come back tenfold.

“Hi, David! We really liked your email and thought your Instagram profile was very impressive, so we would like to invite you to a meeting to get to know you a bit better. Just let us know when it would be convenient for you.”

**Matteo**

Matteo doesn’t tell his mother that he’s going to be on a dating show, only that he will be gone for some time. He’s sure he won’t stay long enough to be in anything other than group shots anyway and so it doesn’t really matter. (For one short, horrifying moment he thinks of all the people he knows that might see him on that show once it airs, that might see him make stupid faces in the background or embarrass himself during a date and judge him for it. He pushes that thought far, far away. It’s not like he has many friends who could judge him, anyway.) 

Jonas and Hanna are properly invested though, full of all the enthusiasm for this project he doesn’t have. 

“I hope you find love,” Hanna says gently and he knows she means it in a nice way, that she truly wants him to be happy. If only she knew. (If only he’d finally find the courage to tell her and Jonas.) 

“Of course he’ll find love!” Jonas exclaims and Matteo isn’t quite sure whether he’s serious or whether he’s making fun of him. But he knows Jonas also wants him to be happy and maybe he truly thinks this is the way to go about it. “No one will be able to resist our Luigi!” he adds and he says it in such an affectionate way that Matteo almost wants to believe him. But it’s not true. 

He won’t find love. How could he, if he has to date women, on a reality TV show no less? He doesn’t even want to find love, really. But he’ll go and eat all the snacks and maybe he’ll even have a tiny bit of fun watching the other couples fall in love. And then he’ll go home again and everything will be exactly the way it has always been, with Hanna and Jonas being disgustingly cute together and too concerned about his well-being, with his mother desperately wanting him to find someone so he’s not always alone, with Matteo in the closet and on his own. Some days (the bad days), he’s not sure there’s any love out there for him but even if there is, the one place he’s sure he won’t find it is on a ridiculous dating show. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3
> 
> Next episode on Give Me A Sign: first dates, old friends and unexpected connections.


	2. Chapter 1: Love Is Couch Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Michi just experienced the stress of writing and rewriting for hours on the day you plan to post for the first time and we don't want to do that to her again so don't expect an update every Sunday. 
> 
> Shoutout to superior wives Olga and Maybe. 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day! <3

**Chapter 1: Love Is Couch Conversations**

**David**

When David arrives at the studio where the first part of the show will be filmed, things become too real. The first thing they do is take away his phone. David knew this was going to happen and yet he still feels strangely vulnerable without it. He’s going to be isolated from the rest of the world for the next 10 days at least with no way to talk to anyone he knows besides Leonie. And with her, all their conversations will have to be fake or in code.

David already misses his sister. When he told her about the whole situation she laughed so hard David was worried for a second she was going to choke. Then she told him to just try to have some fun and “who knows, maybe you’ll actually meet someone you like as well.” He probably didn’t explain things well enough to her because even if he did meet someone, there was no way something could come off it. Not that he would actually want to meet someone. All he wants is for the whole thing to end as soon as possible.

After handing over his phone and receiving a few more instructions, David is led to what will be his sleeping quarters for the next 10 days and to say they are spartan would be an understatement. He looks around the trailer that will function as his bedroom but there isn’t a lot to look at; there are three beds and dressers, a tiny bathroom and that is pretty much it. He’s told he can start unpacking his stuff and to then get into his good clothes. The rest of the living quarters would be revealed when they’re on camera.

With a sigh David walks over to one of the two still unclaimed beds and starts unpacking. He lays the suit he is supposed to wear out on the bed and puts the rest in the dresser. When he is about done, the door opens and another contestant is being led inside and given the same explanations.

“Hi, I’m Abdi,” the guy says once they’re alone again, holding out his hand. David takes it and shakes it.

“David,” he replies.

The rest of the time until they’re being picked up is filled with Abdi’s excited babbling about how he can’t wait to finally see everything and meet the women and David trying not to sound like he would rather be anywhere but here.

Then suddenly everything goes really fast. They’re being ushered into a room with the other male contestants where they get a few more instructions and then they are let into their new living quarters.

The living space is much more luxurious than their sleeping trailers, with stylish furniture, a big open kitchen, a pool table and even a small gym. Once they are all in, they are given some time to explore and to properly meet the other contestants.

Leonie told him to get to know the other guys, to be able tell her which ones are decent and which ones are jerks, so David tries to get a feel for them and to play along. However, with all the excitement of the day it’s difficult to really get a good read on them, they all just seem pumped to be here and are playing it up for the cameras.

There is one guy, however, that catches David’s eye, because he seems so decidedly … not pumped. He’s keeping more to the fringes of the cluster of guys that has formed, barely engaging with anyone besides the bare minimum and looking, if David had to choose a word, miserable. He wonders what the guy’s – David thinks he heard his name is Matteo – deal is. Maybe he is shy, or the cameras make him nervous, or he ate something that didn’t agree with him. Or he just realized what a ridiculous situation they’re all in right now. Whatever it is, among all these exuberant and excited men, David can’t help but see some kind of kindred spirit in Matteo.

But before David can make his way over to him to have an actual conversation and maybe find out more about Matteo, they are interrupted by the hosts of the show.

“Hi everyone, how are you doing? I’m Olga Maybeson,” one of the hosts says once the general chaos caused by their appearance has died down.

“And I’m obviously Maybe Maybeson,” the other host introduces herself. “Welcome to the blind love experiment.”

“Here, you will choose someone to marry without ever seeing them,” Olga announces and there are some gasps and nervous chuckles coming from the contestants, even though David is sure they all already knew that.

She goes on to explain how dating in modern times has placed such an emphasis on looks and other superficial things and how the show will eradicate that but David is barely paying attention and just hopes they won’t have to do multiple takes of this.

“During the next ten days, you will go on a string of dates with many different women that will all take place in our specially designed private pods,” Maybe continues. “There, you will get the chance to really get to know the other person while being separated by a thin wall, preventing you from seeing each other. If you think you found someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, you get to propose to her.”

After a few more gasps and whispers, Olga takes over again. “If she says yes, you’ll finally get to see her for the first time and leave this place as an engaged couple. You will move in together, meet each other’s friends and family and in four weeks you’ll stand in front of the altar where you get to decide if you want to say yes and prove that love really is blind.”

**Matteo**

He doesn’t expect it at all and maybe that makes it worse. Or maybe it doesn’t matter, maybe this would be an absolute disaster either way because they’re both participants in the most heterosexual dating show of all time and they’re being filmed at right this moment and hopefully no one who knows him will ever get to see this footage. 

He doesn’t catch his name at first, when he introduces himself to all the guys, but he isn’t paying attention to what anyone is saying anyway. He’s too distracted by his attentive eyes that seem to take in everything in the room as if it really matters, as if he really cares about even the ugly grey sofa in the corner. And by his hair that looks a little dishevelled but in a cool way, like it just happens to look like this and he can’t be bothered to fix it. And most of all by the smile on his face that could either be genuine or a little sarcastic, like he’s making fun of all this in his head. Matteo can’t place it yet but he wants nothing more than to find out. He wants to know everything there is to know about this guy. 

Of course he doesn’t get to. Instead, they get another explanation of the show from the hosts, this time with their reactions being filmed, and as always, Matteo doesn’t really listen to it. He just waits until they’re done and then he joins all the other guys on their way to the pods. To their first dates. Matteo truly doesn’t remember how there was ever a part of him that thought this was in any way a good idea. He started regretting this the second he arrived and he hasn’t stopped regretting it yet. He hates talking to people he doesn’t know and that’s the only thing he’s supposed to be doing here.

His first date is a disaster. He isn’t sure whether she says her name is Layla or Leonie but he’s too scared to ask once she’s asked about his name or maybe he just doesn’t care. It doesn’t really matter because she immediately starts talking about workouts and her job that has something to do with them. (At this point, he has already zoned out and doesn’t really listen to what she’s saying anymore. And it’s only the first date.) Of course she realises he’s not paying attention and once he calls her Laura (which, as it turns out, is not her name), he’s pretty sure she just leaves her pod because there’s silence after that. He’s not mad about having a little time to take a nap before his next date. 

It’s not much better. He pays more attention to the name this time (Mia) but it’s not like it’s really helping. Even if he was straight, Matteo doesn’t think he could ever develop feelings for someone like Mia. She tells him how much she likes things to be in order and then she starts asking him his opinion on various political topics and he gives her half-assed answers because he’s starting to realise that this is his worst nightmare and he already has no energy for the remaining dates left. 

There’s Sam after that, who he actually gets along with once they discover their shared love for Maître Gims and then Victoria who seems to take things about as seriously as him, which is a nice change. By the time his fifth date starts, with a woman named Kiki, all he wants to do is sleep. He knows from the second they start talking that this is not going to be fun but at least Kiki seems to love talking so he doesn’t have to do much. He’s starting to let his thoughts wander again when suddenly, she starts telling him about how she once formed a pee circle with her friends when they went camping. And he can’t stop himself from laughing. This is by far the best conversation he’s had all day. 

Still, by the time the last date of the day starts, he’s completely done. All he wants is for this to be over. If it didn’t entail being actually engaged, he’d propose to one of these women right now just so he wouldn’t have to go through another day of this. But it’s only one more date and after that, he can get back to his bed and relax. Or maybe talk to the guys a little. (Or maybe only one guy … no, that’s a stupid thought.) 

“I’m Sara,” a soft voice says. She sounds a little nervous. 

“Hi,” Matteo answers. And then, when he realizes that he’s supposed to also say his name, “Matteo.”

She giggles and while it makes him want to roll his eyes, she seems surprisingly sweet when she continues talking. She asks him about his life, like she truly cares and isn’t just asking because they’re being filmed and she doesn’t know what else to say. And she tells him about her life, about how she’s a drama student and how it’s her biggest dream in life to one day play Juliet in _Romeo & Juliet _. When she talks about acting, she sounds so passionate. He wishes he had something he was as passionate about. That’s not something he was ever planning on saying to anyone, least of all while it’s being preserved on camera and the whole world might get to see it, but to his own surprise and without really knowing why, he tells Sara exactly that. 

“I’m sure you’ll find something!” she says and she somehow manages to sound like she believes it. “You still have time to figure it out, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he replies. “It’s cool, though, that you have it figured out.”

“Thanks,” Sara says and he swears he can hear a smile in her voice. She’s too nice and she probably thinks that he likes her or at least that he could be interested in her. He almost feels bad about being here but it’s just a conversation and it’s not like he’ll propose to her. At least she’s a good person to have a conversation with. 

**Leonie**

When it’s time to step into the pods for the first date, Leonie can’t believe she’s getting nervous over this. She knows she won’t find the guy of her dreams in there. Simply because the guy of her dreams doesn’t exist. All she has to do is get through some awkward conversations with some guys until she gets to David and then pretend to not know him. They just have to make their conversations interesting enough for people to believe them that they are in the middle of falling in love with each other – without letting it slip that they know each other. They should just avoid topics like uni to avoid accidental inside jokes and other than that, they should be fine. This should be foolproof. She shouldn’t be nervous.

When she gets the go from the producers, Leonie takes a deep breath before she steps into the first pod.

She walks back out not even a minute later.

What an asshole. Apparently remembering her name is already asking too much. At least _she_ has a reason for her lack of motivation but remembering her name really shouldn’t be asking too much and it’s pretty unlikely that this dude was forced to sign up by his best friend as well, so she doesn’t get what his deal was. You can’t even expect the bare minimum from guys anymore …

Her second date is much better. It’s with a guy called Mohammed. He is super sweet and considerate, and talks about how much he loves his family for ages. He works in a kindergarten and it’s obvious how he lives for his job. Leonie is happy for every kid who has Mohammed as their teacher, though it makes her thankful that she managed to get David to join her. She’d feel awful to pretend to be into some wonderfully sweet guy like Mohammed only to possibly break his heart later. And no matter how good the conversation is, she can’t help her thoughts wandering towards Sara. She wonders what Sara thinks about her dates. Is there already someone who caught her eye? Ear?

When they’re told that the time is over, she says goodbye to Mohammed and steps out of the pod, Leonie can’t help but immediately look for Sara. She’s curious what she has to say about her first date, but they can’t exchange more than a few glances and Sara just grins at her before they’re ushered into the next pod.

She’s thankful for the drinks provided, some of these dudes are … a piece of work, to say it lightly. One guy seriously asked her about her appearance, as if they’re not in a show that is specifically about not knowing the appearance of your date. There’s Carlos, who’s a bit immature but funny and Alex, who she knows immediately is the biggest fuckboy of them all. This dude is in desperate need of a reality check.

That means, after those first few dates, she’s exhausted and also a little bit tipsy. So, when she steps into the next pod and hears someone answer to her introduction with “Hi, I’m David”, she has to try hard to not visibly show her relief. Finally, she can have a little fun. 

Though soon she realizes she shouldn’t have been too hasty with her relief because clearly David is as in for some fun as she is when he pretty much forgoes the usual small-talk and instead asks for her opinion on milkshake and fries. 

She can _hear_ his smirk when he asks the question and has to remind herself to stay calm because she knows _he_ knows how disgusting she thinks that is. That fucker. 

“I can’t believe you would ask about something that is so obviously wrong and the source of all evil,” she answers indignantly, and they quickly fall into their familiar banter.

Time flies and they’re allowed to stay in the pod with each other for a long time before the day is over and they are all back in the common room. She hopes it wasn’t too obvious that David and she know each other but at the same time their conversation should be enough to convince people that they’re interested in each other. 

All she wants to do now is sleep but of course all the girls are excited and want to share their experiences and compare favorites. She gets it, of course if they really believe in this “love is blind” bullshit, they would be really committed to finding the _perfect_ partner. 

But when she sits back on the couch in their common room, she doesn’t get her much needed minute of peace and quiet.

“Didn’t you bring a notebook or something to remember the details about all the guys?” Kiki asks her, sitting down next to her on the couch. “I want to remember every single thing they tell me, so I can make the best choice.” 

Leonie shrugs. “I have a good memory,” she lies easily. 

She’d rather forget half the things the guys say before she started taking fucking notes on dates. Even if they’re fake. 

“Aren’t you scared they promise you heaven on earth and then start behaving totally differently once you see each other?” Kiki asks. Leonie isn’t. She really, really isn’t. 

“I had this date with a dude who was so rude, he was making fun of me being vegan. Doesn’t he know it’s literally the most healthy option for your body? What if we had a great conversation afterwards and I forgot he was this inconsiderate? And then I would end up married to him? No thanks.” Kiki doesn’t seem to realize that Leonie isn’t up for talking, so she’s relieved when another girl (Mia?) calls Kiki over. 

She knows she should mingle, talk to the other women as well, but she’s just glad she has a few minutes on her own before she has to record her first confessional. That’s why she leans back on the couch, puts her feet on the fancy (pretentious) coffee table and promises herself to only close her eyes for a few minutes.

She can’t help but think about how Sara’s dates went, what did she talk about with the guys? Did they make her laugh? Did they make her laugh so hard that she couldn’t hide the little snort that always comes out when she can’t stop herself? Sara hates it but Leonie thinks it’s cute. 

It makes her think of the day after their last finals, when they met up to have a drink and wanted to go out to celebrate. They were dead tired though, so they decided to just stay in Leonie’s flat. The weeks of studying had left them sleep deprived and in a giggly mood. Sara tried to tell her a story about something, she doesn’t even remember what it was. But she couldn’t even say half a sentence before she had to stop because she was laughing so hard. The story hadn’t even been that funny, it was just the tiredness making them stupid. She feels herself grin from the memory. 

She’s almost over the edge of sleep so she startles when the couch dips and Sara curls up next to her. After that initial shock, it’s like her body instantly relaxes. She feels like she can finally breathe again and only then realizes just how tense she was. They used to watch movies cuddled up together all the time, so it’s like Leonie’s body recognizes that she’s safe and protected. It feels familiar. 

“How was your day?” Leonie asks. 

“I think I met someone who I could like.” Leonie turns her head to see Sara’s smile and suddenly isn’t so interested in the answer anymore. 

“His name is Matteo, and he’s really sweet and really funny.” Matteo? Wasn’t that the guy who forgot her name immediately? 

“Seriously, him?” Leonie whisper-shouts, almost forgetting that the microphones could catch it and she doesn’t want to look like an asshole to the viewers. 

“What do you mean, ’seriously him’? He’s really cute! Well, not that I know what he looks like, but he seems like a really good guy,” Sara says. 

“I’m just not sure –” Leonie starts but Sara interrupts her.

“You always say I go for fuckboys and now that I found a sweet guy he’s also not right?” Sara starts to raise her voice, sounding hurt at the same time. Fuck, Leonie should chill. 

“I’m sorry Sara-mouse, I didn’t mean it like that.” She opens her arms in invitation for a hug, which Sara accepts. 

“Yeah, well … What about your dates? Anyone you like?”

“It was okay. Most guys are unbelievably dumb.” 

“I know, right?” Sara laughs and snuggles closer to Leonie. 

“Can we talk tomorrow? I’m too tired and I still have the confessional thing later,” Leonie whispers, allowing herself to rest her head on Sara’s and close her eyes again, if only for a few minutes.

**David**

The dates are tiring. The women David talks to all seem like lovely people but he doesn’t know through how many more exchanges of “what’s your name?”, “how old are you?”, “what do you do for a living?” he can go before he loses his mind.

He has totally lost track of how many women he has talked to when he goes into the next pod.

“Hello?” comes the voice through the speakers that connect him to his next date.

“Hi, I’m David, what’s your name?” he replies for the umpteenth time.

“Hi, David! I’m Sara. How are you?”

Sara. The sole reason he is here in the first place. Although she can’t be blamed for that at all, since in the end it was Leonie’s doing that brought him here. 

“Hello Sara, nice to meet you. I’m doing great, just a little tired.”

“Oh, me too. But this is also all so exciting, I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep at all tonight. So, David, tell me a little about yourself.”

It is a little bizarre to think that this is the way they should meet for the first time, with David already knowing so much about her through what Leonie has told him over the years, and her having no idea. No idea that he knows about her and no idea who he is. Except, maybe she does know things about him. Has Leonie mentioned him before? Has she told her about her friend David from university? It’s pretty lucky that his name is so common but what about the more unique details of his life? 

David is suddenly unsure of what he should reveal about himself, so he tries to keep things vague and encourages Sara to speak more of herself. Fortunately, once they’re past exchanging the basic information of their lives they get a nice conversation going. They’re bonding over the fact that they both took advanced PE in highschool and complain about their former teachers. 

If they had met under more normal circumstances, they probably could’ve become good friends but now that is out of the question.

David doesn’t know what time it is when they’re finally done with all the dates for the day but judging by how exhausted he is, he figures it must be late already. At least it ended on a high note. Talking to Leonie and teasing her about her lack of taste was definitely the most fun he’s had all day and now he’s ready to just fall into bed. However, the day isn’t quite over yet, as he and the other guys are encouraged by the producers to talk about the day with each other. David reluctantly joins the others in the common room where they’re all standing in a big group. There is an excited buzz in the air as everyone recounts their experiences in the pods and shares their opinions on the women they talked to.

“So, who is your favorite so far?”

It takes him a while to realize that the guy standing next to him, Carlos, is actually talking to him. “Uh, I don’t know.”

“Really? Is there no one that caught your eye yet? Like, where did you feel the strongest vibes?”

David thinks about it for a second. It’s probably not a bad idea to sow the seeds of his future romance with Leonie already.

“Hm, I really liked Leonie, I think.”

“Dude, really?” comes the incredulous voice of his roommate Abdi from behind him as he settles at David’s other side.

“Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know, man, she was just so … cold.”

“Right?!” Carlos agrees. “Ice cold.”

Sounds like Leonie wasn’t exactly successful at pretending she is really here to find love but he still feels like he should defend her.

“Well, she was nothing but lovely to me, so it seems like you must’ve been the problem,” he says and hopes it doesn’t come across as too mean, he doesn’t want to actually offend them. But the guys just laugh it off.

“So who did you like?” Abdi asks Carlos.

“Hm, that Kiki chick seemed dope. I know I don’t know what she looks like but somehow she sounded really hot.”

“Bro, I’d be careful with that one,” some other guy, David thinks his name was Axel or Alex or something, interjects. “I could tell she really had the hots for me already and seemed pretty desperate, to be honest. Chicks like that really aren’t worth the trouble.”

That’s when David really can’t take it anymore. He feels like he’s losing brain cells, as well as respect for his fellow contestants, with every second he listens to them talk. So, he leaves the guys behind and asks one of the producers if he can go back to their sleeping quarters, but he is told that they’re shooting for at least another hour. Great. All David wants is some peace and quiet and to lie down on the supremely uncomfortable-looking bed in their trailer.

When he looks around the common room for a spot where he can at least escape the mind-numbing conversations of the other contestants, he sees the guy he noticed earlier sitting – or rather almost lying, as he is slumped down so low – by himself on one of the couches, not looking much happier than he did when David first noticed him.

David is kind of curious what the guy’s deal is, so he makes his way over to him.

**Matteo**

It’s the guy from earlier, the one he noticed right away. Matteo isn’t sure why he’s coming over to him (maybe to tell him it’s really fucking shitty of him to just sit on his own when everyone else is talking and socializing) but before he can come up with an explanation or even be ready in the slightest, he’s standing right in front of him. 

“Hi, I’m David,” he says, with a friendly smile that Matteo doesn’t return because he’s desperately trying not to think too much about how nice his voice is (softer than he expected it to be but also so certain, like he knows exactly who he is). 

It’s why it takes him a second too long to reply and when he does, it comes out more as a stutter than anything else. “Oh, uh, hi. Matteo.” 

He tries to sit up a little straighter when David sits down next to him and he’s not sure whether he’s more excited at the prospect of talking to him or nervous that he’ll be completely tongue-tied.

Apparently, David notices as well. “Everything okay? You kind of look like you’re not having the best time,” he states. 

Matteo isn’t sure what to reply to that so he shrugs and then, when he realizes he should give David a proper answer, “Uhm, yeah it’s all … it’s all good. I’m just tired and, uh, still a little nervous, I guess.” 

“Yeah, I get that, I’m also exhausted. I really just want to lie down and have some time to myself.” _Same_ , everything in Matteo screams. It’s only been one day but he’s so exhausted from talking to so many people already that he’s not sure how he’s supposed to make it through several days of this before he can go home again, single and officially a failure at dating. He’s thought of sneaking out but there’s two crew members standing not too far from the couch he’s claimed as his and he doesn’t want to run into problems with them on the first day already. Besides, he’s here, talking to David, and that’s by far the least horrible way to spend his evening. 

“Yeah,” Matteo replies and then there’s an awkward silence growing between them where Matteo tries not to stare at David too openly and David seems to scrutinize his every move. He probably thinks Matteo is really weird. He probably wants nothing more than to get up and leave, he’s just too polite to do it. 

But he starts talking again. “Sorry if I’m bothering you, I just needed to get away from those guys’ conversation.”

“No, it’s fine you’re, uhm, you’re not bothering me,” Matteo says immediately, maybe a tiny bit too fast but he hopes David doesn’t notice. He keeps talking in a desperate attempt to cover it up. “But I don’t really feel like talking about which women I liked or whatever.”

“That’s good then because neither do I,” David says with a little smile. “I think I definitely lost some brain cells listening to those guys talk about that. They were seriously saying things like ’she sounded like she’s hot.’ What does that even mean?” He’s shaking his head now but there’s a grin on his face and Matteo thinks he may, if nothing else, be an ally in this absurd situation they’ve somehow both landed themselves in. Suddenly, it’s easier to talk to him.

“Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of the show?” he asks.

David raises an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“I mean,” Matteo starts explaining, “if you’re choosing someone because you think, based on their voice, that they might look hot, then love wouldn’t really be blind, right? Because you’re still kind of choosing someone for their looks.” 

“That’s true,” David says. “So you believe it?” He’s looking at Matteo like he’s challenging him except Matteo’s not sure what the challenge is. 

“Believe what?” he asks. 

“That love is blind,” David clarifies, still with that infuriatingly confrontational look in his eyes. 

Matteo hasn’t really thought about it before, not seriously, so he takes a second and then he shrugs. “I guess. Why not? You don’t believe that?”

David smiles but it’s not as friendly as his smile before. It’s razor-sharp. “Maybe. But I also think the show’s interpretation of the phrase is very shallow. I don’t think it’s just about loving someone despite their looks. And even if it were, I haven’t really seen anyone here who could be considered unattractive by any standard, so what is this really proving? That you can love someone, even if they’re not attractive in exactly the way you’re most drawn to? You can love someone who’s blond even if you usually prefer brunettes? Or you can love someone despite them being a few inches taller or shorter than you’d prefer? So it would be more like, ‘love lets you look past the tiniest flaws,’ or something.” Matteo is pretty sure he didn’t take a single breath in his entire monologue. 

“Hm, I never really thought about it like that,” he replies. It’s true, what David is saying. Not that it really matters to Matteo. He wouldn’t fall in love with any woman on this show or anywhere, no matter what she looks like or what her flaws might be. But David isn’t done anyway.

“Besides,” he continues, “that’s not even what ‘love is blind’ has originally meant. It’s not about looks not impacting love, it’s about how love can make you blind to the faults of other people. So it’s not actually a romantic phrase or anything, it’s just a stupid saying that’s misinterpreted for the purpose of this show.” Now he’s taking a breath and Matteo is genuinely impressed with how much he can say in one go. It reminds him a little of Jonas. 

“Makes sense,” he says. He doesn’t know what else to add, not when David can put his thoughts so elaborately and he almost forgot his own name when David asked him for it. 

David shakes his head, as if he’s trying to shake off his own irritation at his monologue. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put the show down so much.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Matteo snorts and nods his head towards the crew members still standing near them but they don’t seem like they heard anything David said.

David grins. “Oh yeah, I guess I’m lucky there was no camera pointed at me right then or they might kick me out.”

“I can take the blame, I wouldn’t mind being thrown out,” Matteo says. He regrets it immediately. Now he’s given away too much and it’s clear by the way David is raising his eyebrow that he has a million questions. 

And indeed, he asks, “Why are you here then, if you don’t want to be?” There’s genuine curiosity in his voice. 

Matteo shrugs. “Why are you here?” he asks back. 

There’s a moment of hesitation from David or maybe he’s imagining it and then his grin is back and he says, “To find true love, of course.” His voice is dripping with sarcasm. 

Matteo decides not to ask further. This conversation has brought him onto thin ice and he’s lucky he found a way out, without having to come up with a ridiculously bad excuse for why he’s here. He can’t risk that by asking David more about his own reasons to be here. Besides, maybe this is enough, just knowing there’s someone else here who doesn’t really believe in the show and doesn’t take it so damn seriously. It’s nice, to know he’s not alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next episode on Give Me A Sign: early mornings, late nights and more food controversies.


End file.
